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Perennial or annual herbs, often woody at the base. Leaves sessile, alternate, opposite or whorled, entire or with shortly denticulate margin. Stipules glandular, persistent, or absent. Inflorescence a terminal monochasial or dichasial cyme, or rarely flowers solitary. Sepals 4–5, entire or with capitate-glandular serrate margin, free, persistent. Petals 4–5, white,, yellow, blue, pink or red, free or very rarely united at base, shortly clawed. Stamens 4–5, alternating with petals; staminodes occasionally present, 4–5, filiform and between the stamens, all joined at base forming a short staminal tube. Ovary 4–5-locular; each loculus partly divided by a false septum and containing two pendulous ovules. Styles 4–5, free or rarely united at base; stigmas linear, oblong or capitate. Fruit a 4–5-locular, 8–10-valved capsule. Seeds smooth and flat, with little or no endosperm present; testa becoming mucilaginous on wetting; embryo straight.
Herbs, annual, biennial, or perennial, rarely woody at base. Stems erect, with a tough cortex, glabrous or rarely pubescent. Stipules small or absent. Leaves alternate or opposite, simple, sessile, with 1 or 3(or 5) veins from base, margin entire or sometimes denticulate and sometimes apically with glandular trichomes. Inflorescences cymes or scorpioid cymes. Flowers bisexual, regular, sometimes heterostylous. Sepals 5, imbricate, persistent, margin entire and sometimes with glandular trichomes. Petals 5, red, white, blue, or yellow, fugacious, longer than sepals, contorted, base clawed. Stamens 5, alternate with sepals; filament bases connate; staminodes 5, dentiform. Ovary 5-loculed or appearing 10-loculed by intrusion of false septa, with 2 ovules per locule; styles 5, filiform; stigmas capitate. Capsule splitting into 10 segments. Seeds compressed, shiny, with mucilaginous testa.
Herbs or shrubs. Lvs alternate or opposite, entire, sessile, usually exstipulate, sometimes stipules present and then gland-like. Fls solitary or in dichasia or corymbs. Sepals 5, free ± to base. Petals 5, usually white to blue or violet, rarely yellow or red. Stamens 5, united at base, alternating with 5 minute staminodes. Ovary 5-locular; styles 5, usually free, sometimes united almost to stigmas. Capsule often shortly beaked, 5-carpellate, 10-seeded, usually dehiscent, each cell divided by a secondary septum. Seeds compressed, glossy.
Herbs, annual or perennial with a thickened taproot. Leaves usually alternate, rarely opposite. Inflorescences of leaf-opposed cymes or panicles. Sepals persisting around fruit. Petals blue, white or yellow. Stamens 5, alternating with 5 staminodes. Ovary 5-locular, each locule ± divided by a septum; styles free or connate at base or for much of their length. Capsule ± globose to ovoid, abruptly narrowing into stylar remnant, splitting into 10 mericarps. Seeds 10, 1 per mericarp, elliptic, compressed.
Fls 5-merous throughout; sep lanceolate to ovate, 1–5-nerved, often ciliate; stamens in some spp. alternating with minute, tooth-like staminodes; capsule partly or completely 10-locellar; herbs with rather small, sessile, often narrow lvs and usually several to many fls in an evidently cymose to racemiform or paniculiform infl. 200, cosmop. (Cathartolinum)
Stamens 5, alternating with the petals and with the filaments ± united in the lower part to form a tube bearing 5 nectary glands outside; staminodes alternating with the stamens and forming filiform processes from the staminal tube, or absent.
Fls cymose to solitary; petals clawed; stamens 5, united at base, staminodes 5 or 0. Ovary 5-celled; ovules 2 per cell, separated by partial false septum. Capsules dehiscing into 10 cocci, seeds compressed.·
Leaves sessile, alternate (or sometimes opposite or whorled at the base of the stem), entire or with a denticulate or ciliate margin, 1-to several-nerved; stipules glandular or absent.
Ovary 5-locular, each loculus partially divided by a false septum; styles 5, free or rarely united in the lower half; stigmas capitate or obliquely clavate.
Petals 5, yellow, blue, red, pink or white, free or very rarely united at the base, shortly and narrowly unguiculate with a terminal claw.
Fruit a 5-locular 10-valved capsule with 2-seeded loculi, the seeds in each loculus partially separated by a well-developed false septum.
Flowers terminal, few to many in monochasial or subdichasial cymes or more rarely solitary, homostylic or heterostylic.
Shrublets or, more frequently, perennial or annual herbs, sometimes woody at the base.
Seeds smooth, flat, with slime-epidermis and little or no endosperm; embryo straight.
Sepals 5, quincuncial, entire or with glandular-ciliate margin, free, persistent.
